London transit system smooth amid Olympic crush & regular commute

London’s transport network took the combined strain of Olympic spectators and its normal mass of commuters for the first time on Monday morning in the first real test of the host city’s ability to move people around during the Games.

London Bridge Station — a key transport hub for the south-east and a stop on the Jubilee tube line that runs to the Olympic Park — is expected to be highly congested during the Olympics.

Transport authorities had advised commuters to avoid the station and put in place access restrictions to manage the flow of travellers through it.

Commuters passing though the station on Monday morning said they had no problems getting through the station.

“Yeah a little bit in the middle everyone was a bit confused. It was quite busy down there,” said construction worker Jake.

Bank worker Russell Burns said he had switched his place of work to London Bridge from Canary Wharf — another likely crunch zone.

“I could only think about how awful and exhausting my journey was going to be but it seems to be absolutely fine so far, but we are only in day one of going to work during the Olympics though,” said Burns.

Another commuter, Samantha Franks, also made her way through the station without delay.

“Well they’re making everyone come down one route which is the route I normally come anyway so it’s a little bit packed as you get to the barriers but other than that its fine.”

Commuters leaving Canary Wharf station in London’s financial district said the Underground trains ran as normal, although some had anticipated some disruptions.  

“I came in early, because normally if you come in an hour later it’d be chaos. But otherwise it was fine. No problems,” said one commuter.

“My commute was absolutely fine. It was exactly the same as I normally experience every day, so I was happy with that,” said another commuter.

“I don’t usually take the transport during this time of the day, I didn’t wait at all for the train, so I’m not complaining,” said a man rushing to work.

With the morning commute appearing to go smoothly at London Bridge and Canary Wharf, it remains to be seen whether the stations will cope as well with its next big test as workers and fans scramble to get home at the end of the day.
 

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